Ode to the Model T Ford

As a small boy I always remember my uncle Alex owning vintage cars. Then about 10 years ago he bought his first veteran car — a 1910 Model T Ford in green and black as pictured above.

It is a car full of peculiarities and a provider of much entertainment. My uncle’s one has the extra Rocky Mountain brakes fitted and a Clear Lake cooker and bake on top of the exhaust manifold. If you put sausage rolls in it you can tell when they’re ready when dogs start chasing you down the street.

Back in 1910 the windscreen would have been an optional extra. And the early cars like my uncle’s do not have a rocker cover covering the valves for the engine, so the total loss oil system leaves oil all over the ground.

My uncle also took the decision to change the engine as it still had its original 1910 engine when he bought it. They can be quite rare and expensive to replace if the engine block gets cracked, so this car now has another engine out of one of the late Model T’s.

The Model T Ford was nicknamed the Tin Lizzie. My uncle and myself had been to a few runs and shows in it around Scotland, where I live, and when I had did a creative writing course back in 2008 I decided to write a poem about it to try and capture the joy the Model T gave us. It went like this…

Tin Lizzie

She’s not very fast but she’s from the past, she’s not even one of the last.Everywhere we go we have a blast…but we won’t get there very fast.

Tin Lizzie, you’re so old, sometimes even cold,I don’t mind that you’re old but don’t give me the cold.

Oh we have such fun even though you weigh a ton,We all have so much fun out on our runs.

Tin Lizzie was made in nineteen ten,may have been made for a Ken or Ben.

All over Scotland we have been, and you always get seen,At shows and runs we will go…I am always keen.

But oil you have poured…because you’re a Model T Ford.

I will be writing an article about Model T Fords in the next few days so stay tuned to find out more about these wonderful cars and how they changed the automotive industry.